Latest news with #Nunavut
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Ottawa to appoint Virginia Mearns of Iqaluit as Arctic ambassador
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters before attending a meeting of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, in Inuvik, N.W.T., on Thursday, July 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA — The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is naming its Arctic ambassador today as it seeks deeper ties with circumpolar nations at a time of rising security concerns. The office of Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Virginia Mearns will be the Arctic ambassador and will oversee the foreign policy for the region that Ottawa released last December. That policy calls for science collaboration across the Arctic, tighter security co-ordination and new consulates in both Alaska and Greenland. Those pledges came ahead of the government's announcement of cuts to the foreign service — part of Carney's plan to finance a massive boost in military spending. Carney told an event in Inuvik, N.W.T., this morning that he would be officially announcing the appointment later today. Mearns lives in Iqaluit and has worked within local Inuit governments. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
Iqaluit resident Virginia Mearns named Canada's Arctic ambassador
Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Inuit leader Virginia Mearns as Canada's Arctic ambassador. Carney made the announcement Thursday morning during an Inuit-Crown partnership committee meeting in Inuvik, N.W.T. Mearns, who lives in Iqaluit, currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut, including as the deputy minister of executive and intergovernmental affairs. Mearns has also spent over a decade in various roles with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Mearns' appointment Thursday is the latest development in Canada's new Arctic foreign policy released in December. Canada has also committed to opening new consulates in Alaska and Greenland, supporting science and research in the Arctic and discussing Arctic security with foreign ministers in other northern countries.
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
CBC Igalaaq - July 23, 2025
CBC Igalaaq - July 23, 2025 News Duration 30:04 Viewers from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are kept up to date by daily current events and news from the Inuit world
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
$200M legacy fund for day school survivors now open for applications
The $200-million legacy fund for federal day school survivors and their families is now open for applications. The McLean Legacy Fund is for survivor-led initiatives for collective healing, wellness, language, culture, commemoration, and truth telling. "We've been waiting for this day," said Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation elder Claudette Commanda, who is CEO of the McLean Day Schools Settlement Corporation. "It's very promising. There's finally something there for us. Let's take advantage of what is there for us to build what our communities, what our survivors [need]," she said. The corporation's board will consider funding submissions received between now and the end of September, with funds expected to flow by January 2026, according to the settlement fund website. Only survivor applicant groups or communities can request funding. They are outlined in Schedule K of the settlement, which lists recognized federal day schools. Canada ran 29 day schools in the N.W.T., 30 in Nunavut, and 13 in Yukon, according to that list. Individual survivors and groups of individuals are not eligible for funding alone, the fund's website states. The legacy fund is part of the larger $1.47-billion class action settlement, and is distinct from the individual compensation money, said Commanda. The first round of submissions are open for survivor committees and for community programs and projects, the settlement states. Communities can apply to support existing programs they already run, such as men's healing lodges and language preservation. There is money to hire healers and mental support workers, especially for commemoration programming, she said. "Survivor communities, they know what's needed and they're in the best position to develop whatever program and services are needed to meet those needs of wellness, language, truth telling [and] commemoration," she said. 'Justice for day school survivors' The legacy fund is named in honour of the late Garry McLean, from Lake Manitoba First Nation, the lead plaintiff representing hundreds of thousands of survivors in the Federal Indian Day Schools Class Action case. McLean advocated for justice and healing for survivors of day school institutions where abuse was "rampant," said Commanda. She said he "spearheaded the justice for day school survivors" who were excluded from the residential school negotiations. "Regardless of the fact that the Indian Day Schools were on reserve and we went home each night to our families, it was still the same objective — assimilation, the loss of language and culture," said Commanda. Students at these institutions were not allowed to speak their language and not allowed to know anything about their culture and identity, she said. Communities can apply for up to $25,000 to establish a survivor committee. Establishing one is not mandatory, but encouraged to ensure programming is survivor-led, she said. The fund is split among four areas: Collective healing is important, said Commanda, noting that survivors of day schools may also be survivors of multiple "devastating federal policies," including residential school, the child welfare system, boarding schools, and segregated hospitals. "Regardless of what policy that we fell under or that we've experienced, there's still that trauma and our communities have to heal, period. Survivors, you're not alone," she said.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
CBC Igalaaq - July 22, 2025
CBC Igalaaq - July 22, 2025 News Duration 30:05 Viewers from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are kept up to date by daily current events and news from the Inuit world
